Some readers both at Gates of Vienna and at the Danish blog Snaphanen argue that we should simply forget Breivik and ignore him. They’re missing the point. This is less about the deranged terrorist than it is about how he has been used by the mass media and political elites.

His atrocities have been cynically exploited in order to harass, intimidate and stigmatize people who are critical of Islam and uncontrolled mass immigration. Breivik can no longer hurt anybody from his prison cell — apart from the dozens of families he already destroyed in July 2011. Yet he can still be used as a tool by others.

It’s easy and tempting to say that Anders Behring Breivik is now in jail and therefore harmless. Why not just throw away the key, let him rot and never speak of him again? Why give him more of the attention he so desperately craves?

I fully understand such objections. I’m at least as tired of Breivik as everybody else, although not always for the same reasons. Yet while Breivik himself isn’t interesting or relevant, the use (or misuse) of him and his crimes is.

First of all, I am Norwegian. In Norway, this case will be talked about still for years to come. Second of all, even internationally, Breivik is not fully forgotten. He continues to be mentioned and used by people with significant power and influence. For instance, representatives of the European Union have highlighted Breivik as an example of “right-wing extremism” they must do more to combat. As long as Western mass media continue to refer to him dishonestly as an Islamophobic terrorist or anti-Islamist, these false claims must be countered.læs videre på GoV.